Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi met Communist leaders Friday in a bid to resolve the first major crisis between the ruling coalition and the Left Front over disinvestment of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).

The meeting between Gandhi and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja at the former's 10 Janpath residence is expected to find ways to end the face-off over state-owned BHEL.

The four-party Left front, which supports the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) from outside, has been ballistic about the government's decision to sell off 10 percent of its stake in BHEL.

The Left parties - CPI-M, CPI, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Forward Bloc - say the centre's decision is a clear violation of the common minimum programme (CMP), which is the agenda for governance of the multiparty coalition.

The CMP restricts disinvestment in the Navratnas, the nine profit making public sector companies.

Angry over the government's decision to go ahead with the proposal, the Left parties have announced they will stay away from UPA coordination committee meetings.

The Left leaders, united on the issue and under pressure from their trade union leaders to intensify the protest, have told the Congress party there would be no review of the decision until the government meets their demands.

A core group meeting of the Congress party and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which was also attended by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Thursday decided that Gandhi would talk to the Left leaders to resolve the deadlock.

While key ally DMK has sided with the Left on the BHEL issue, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has tried to address both the Congress and the Left parties.

The Left leaders said the RSP and Forward Bloc leaders were not in the capital to attend the meeting.

Congress party leaders point out that as the government has already begun the disinvestment process on BHEL, a rollback would be difficult. "Moreover, both the prime minister and the finance minister were keen on it," said a party leader.